Flood Brook Clough

Also within

Cheshire County

Condition (Natural England)

Habitats

Ancient woodland

Description

Area, 6.0 hectares 14.8 hectares Description Flood Brook Clough is a deep wooded valley cutting through Keuper Marl with an ash Fraxinus excelsior and wych elm Ulmus glabra woodland. Many of the plants present are characteristic of ancient woodland on base rich soils and are comparatively rare in Cheshire. The woodland is dominated by ash and wych elm. Wild cherry Prunus avium, pedunculate oak Quercus robur and small leaved lime. Tilia cordata are also present, especially near the top of the clough. The shrub layer includes elder Sambucus nigra, hazel Corylus avellana and hawthorn Crataegus monogyna. On the upper slopes the ground flora includes bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta, red campion Silene dioica and wood avens Geum urbanum along with yellow pimpernel Lysimachia nemorum, opposite leaved golden saxifraga Chrysosplenium oppositifolium and wood melick Melica uniflora. On the lower, damper and more base rich soils a number of less common species occur including soft shield fern Polystichum setiferum, toothwort Lathraea squamaria, woodruff Galium odoratum, pendulous sedge Carex pendula, hart’s tongue fern Asplenium scolopendrium and wall lettuce Mycelis muralis. Thin spiked wood sedge Carex strigosa and wood barley Hordelymus europaeus are present and both are uncommon nationally.

Species mentioned

Insects to look out for

These moths, butterflies and beetles are known to feed on plants recorded at this site, and carry a notable UK conservation status — but a host-plant being present doesn't mean the insect has actually been recorded here. Treat this as "worth watching for," not a confirmed sighting.

Host-plant data: Cook et al. (2025), Traits data for the butterflies and macro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland, 2024, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology / Butterfly Conservation; and Padovani et al. (2020), Database of Insects and their Food Plants (DBIF), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (both Open Government Licence). Contains data supplied by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.